Do the moon and the weather change together?
One of my favourite weather rhymes is: “The moon and the weather may change together, but a change in the moon can’t change the weather.”
Grandma swore by it. If she saw a full moon after a stretch of unpleasant weather, she would tell us that it would soon be nicer! She seemed to be right most of the time; having said that, over the years I’ve done some digging and have found no scientific connection between the phases of the moon and the weather. The tides… yes, of course, but not our beloved weather.
Tonight, we’ll be treated to a lovely full moon. The November full moon has a few names, one of which is the Snow Moon… let’s move on from that. It’s also known as the Full Hunter’s Moon and the Full Beaver Moon. I like the explanation for the latter. For both the colonists and the Algonquin tribes, this was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs.
I recently came across this interesting bit if information: the oldest lunar calendar showing the full moon was discovered in a cave at Lascaux in France. It dates back 15,000 years and marks the phases of the moon, with a series of dots depicting the days in the cycle. We are not the first to be intrigued by Earth’s only natural satellite.
By the way, the weather will be changing for the better this weekend.
Coincidence…?